Harry woke with a start, to find he was lying comfortably in Hermione’s arms on a squashy divan in the darkened Hall of the High Elves. Relief coursed through the male elf’s veins as he remembered where he was and what had happened earlier that night. The boy sighed; he had been having a bloody dream again. This time, it was the one where Sirius kept on telling him that he already knew who R.A.B. was. The one, where no matter what he did, Harry could not figure out whom Sirius was talking about. Harry closed his eyes and attempted to go back to sleep, but he kept chanting R.A.B. inside of his head.

R.A.B.; R.A.B; R.A.B; Sirius; Sirius; Regulus Arcturus Black! Of course, Regulus was Sirius’ brother, the brother who had been a Death Eater before Voldemort killed him for unknown reasons. The reason, Regulus had died must have been because the Death Eater had found out about the Horcruxes, and he took the locket. The locket… the locket, which the twins had found in the drawing room! The locket that could not be opened! This was why; Harry had always felt the presence of darkness in the mansion! He had forever felt the Horcrux, which was hidden in the drawing room! But wait, the locket must be no longer in the house; otherwise Harry would have sensed the evil when he arrived at Grimmauld Place!

“Harry must have had one of his horrid nightmares, again.” Hermione thought, “Shh, baby you just had a dream, a nightmare that’s all.” Unfortunately, the girl’s fiancé was exploding with the utmost hatred, and refused to be placated. Therefore, Hermione resorted to rushing upstairs and pounding on Minerva’s bedroom door.

“Professor… Professor McGonagall.” Hermione pleaded, “ Come quick, Harry apparently had a dream during the night and now he is having a fit.”

“Oh, dear” Minerva moaned, as she flew into a bathrobe and dished up a flask of an elven calming tonic, which she had dutifully prepared for her grandson’s sleepless nights. The pair then, dashed downstairs to the Hall, gathering the other three elves along the way. By the time, the assemblage had reached their destination; Harry was covered in sweat and was twitching dangerously. Noting this fact, the concerned professor urgently administered the potion with Hermione and Galadriel clutching the young man’s hands.

“Oh,” Harry wheezed as he swallowed the last of the brew. “That, wretched Mundungus Fletcher. How dare he… how dare he take it.”

“I figured out who R.A.B was,” Harry informed his troubled family. “He was Sirius’ younger brother, Regulus and he had Slytherin’s locket hidden in the drawing room.”

“You mean the locket was the one Fred and George located in the drawing room cabinet?” Hermione questioned, eagerly.

“Yes… yes that is the one.”

“I still don’t understand why you were so agitated earlier, Harry.” Minerva declared.

“Mundungus…took the Horcrux and because he is now in Azkaban, we will not be able to obtain it.”

“Harry… dear Harry.” McGonagall laughed, hysterically, “If you keep going on like this, you are going to kill me, someday.”

“I’m sorry, Daernanneth,” Harry regretted, “I just don’t know how we are going to acquire the locket now, and if I don’t demolish it then Voldemort will live.”

“We know, Harry” Hermione admitted, “You need to calm down, we are elves remember? We can do anything.”

“You are right, love.” Harry confessed, “I really overreacted.”

“Shall you go back to bed, sweetheart?” McGonagall asked her grandson.

“No, I don’t think I will ever be able to fall back asleep.”

“I will keep him company,” the elf’s fiancée offered.

“Very well, good night, you two.” With that, the four elven tutors withdrew back to bed leaving the couple. Directly, after the door closed Harry lit the lamps in the room with a wave of his hand and jumped up, flexing his limbs.

“What are you doing, Harry?”

“I’m going to spar. Would you care to join me?” The boy asked his fiancée.

“Sure,” Hermione replied.

“Here, catch.” Harry tossed his dagger into the air, which landed hilt first on Hermione’s palm. “Are you, ready?” Subsequently, both elves unconsciously transformed and began to duel. Although frequently Harry would have to stop and demonstrate how to execute a specific move, so Hermione could study it. Soon, however the couple could hear other members of the household stirring and walking down the halls, so they departed to their rooms to dress.

“Good morning, Harry.” Mrs. Weasley welcomed the boy, as she set a plate of French toast, ham, and eggs at his seat. Thanking the matron, Harry sat down beside Hermione and McGonagall, and as he took the first bite he noticed that four owls were tapping on the kitchen window.

“School owls are here,” Ron said, opening the window and passing out the letters.

“Why, don’t you open yours first, Ron?” Molly asked, believing her son had received the Head Boy badge.

“There’s nothing in here, Mum except for my booklist.”

“Yeah, Mum the school governors probably gave the Head positions to a couple of backstabbing, cheating snobs,” Ginny commented, staring straight at Harry and Hermione. Harry slowly opened his own letter and pulled out his booklist as well as two badges, which meant he was Quidditch Captain and Head Boy, unerringly like Ginny had predicted. The boy immediately reached out and mentally contacted Hermione.

“Mione, I’m Quidditch Captain and Head Boy.”

“That’s wonderful, Harry. I’m Head Girl, and this means that we will have our own quarters!”

“Yeah, that’s neat!” Harry replied, but he then heaved a sigh. Things really had changed since that day on the train after his grandfather’s death, he was an elf, he had a family now, and best of all Hermione was his fiancée. How much more would his life change during the school year?